Aging Beers: Cisco Brewers Island Reserve Tripel Ale. From our vault after 6 years.
Date: February 09, 2018
The Story— Cisco Brewers welcomes over 200,000 visitors a year to their Nantucket brewery and tap house. They’re on our beer bucket list, but we’ve had a chance to taste almost three dozen of their beers over the years since they’re fairly well distributed in New England. They’ve ranged from questionably “biologically stable” to simply superb. There have been enough of the latter to keep us buying new brews from them when we can find them.
The Beer—When fresh, the “farm” in this farmhouse style was evident, with plenty of fruit. After six years; it still has a big and fruity aroma and it still pours a very nice white head. The fruit is still there as well — pears and green grapes, and the yeast is still sweet. It’s fruity for a tripel, but not out of style for a saison/farmhouse: smooth, docile and very approachable. Ellie noted that the fruit has merged with the malt into a nice blend with some peppery alcohol. Sugary later. Probably headachey if you have too much– it’s 9.5% and evident sweetness make this a fine beer when you’re having one.
Value — Very Good — At $11.49, it was a good value in 2012, but you could pay twice that now and be well served.
Values: “fair” is a good beer at an above market price, “good” is worth the money, “very good” is a bargain, and “excellent” is a steal.
In February, we’re digging into our legendary “vault” where we’ve been storing hundreds of bottles of beer waiting for the right time to taste them (or sell them for charity). The charity market has slowed, so we’re working through them in front of a fire and finding some disappointments, but more very surprising delights. You can find the full list –eventually– here on this “index post.”
We’re often asked to share our tasting notes on over 33,000 beers; this blog is in answer to those requests. Not all our notes, though. The great beer writer Michael Jackson admirably followed the Thumper Rule, and we’ll try to do the same. (“If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nuthin’ at all.”) All the beers we post are from the top half of our ratings and most are from the top quarter. Of greater value, we think, are the stories behind the beers, and we try to give you enough about the brewery, the style and the places to find great beer to help you on your own beer journeys. At CulturAle Press we try to write books and publish posts that will help you “Drink Well and Travel Safely.”
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